While on the surface it might seem like the Big 12 is made up of a handful of top contenders that have a legitimate chance to win the conference, the fact of the matter is that there is only one team that has a legitimate chance. Even though there are four teams currently ranking the top-25, only time stands in the way of the No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks and another Big 12 title. The cracks have already begun to show near the top of the conference, and while the rest of the field begins to falter, the Jayhawks will only get better from here as the college basketball betting favorites.
The team that appears to have the best chance at challenging Kansas for Big 12 supremacy just lost another game on Wednesday night, as the No. 2 Missouri Tigers dropped their second conference game at the Oklahoma State Cowboys 79-72. While the Cowboys have played particularly well as underdogs according to the pay head bookies against top-five ranked opponents, the Tigers have now dropped two of their last four on the road, and seem to become a little rattled in opposition buildings when things don’t go their way early on. Marcus Denmon remains one of the best players in college basketball, but he can’t do it alone and the Tigers will struggle when they are pushed by Kansas in early February.
If Missouri isn’t the team that knocks off Kansas, then it is difficult to imagine either the No. 7 Baylor Bears or No. 24 Kansas State Wildcats having a chance. The Bears have already dropped consecutive decisions to Kansas and Missouri this year, including an 18-point blowout loss to the Jayhawks at the Phog Allen Fieldhouse. The Bears built their record up by winning close games against Mississippi State and Kansas State, but the Bulldogs had gone through a stretch where they lost two of three with the other defeat against unranked Arkansas, and nobody thinks that the Wildcats are going to climb any higher than third. The emotion of the in-state rivalry between the Jayhawks and Wildcats could contribute to the spectacle of their contest, but it won’t make the difference.
The Jayhawks have the potential to be a sports betting powerhouse the rest of the way in the Big 12, as they have already beaten the Wildcats and Bears by double-digits, with two games remaining against Missouri to really prove their merit. Junior Thomas Washington has been a force with senior Tyshawn Taylor really helping him along to complete the best inside-outside tandem in the conference. Kansas will have the chance to work on some things over the next week with games against Iowa State and Oklahoma before their toughest test of the year at Missouri on February 4th, and regardless of whether or not they are listed as the Betonline favorite, look for them to win big as they continue to prove they are the best that the Big 12 has to offer.
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